


Summer Nights

by asexualjuliet



Series: Summer Came Like Cinnamon [1]
Category: Freaks and Geeks
Genre: Coming Out, Daniel is mentioned for the sole purpose of me exposing him as Carlos the Dwarf, Drive-In Theaters, Friendship, Gen, I own the entire Maureen tag hell yeah, I wish I was drinking a root beer float right now and projected that desire onto Maureen, Maureen is gay because I can
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-22 02:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20866961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet
Summary: Sam asks Maureen on a date without ever clarifying it’s a date. Maureen just wants to watch a movie and drink a root beer float.





	Summer Nights

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [you're my lady, i'm your fool](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14593203) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 

> Maureen deserved better and I’m on Earth for the sole purpose of worshipping her. 
> 
> Inspired by a really lovely Stranger Things fic by xxPayne! Go check it out if you like ST!
> 
> Takes place after the geeks’ sophomore year.

It’s the middle of July, and Maureen’s in her room reading _ A Wrinkle in Time _ for the thousandth time when her mom calls “Maureen, there’s a _ boy _ on the phone for you!”

It’s either Neal, Bill or Sam, because they’re her only guy friends (as well as her only friends altogether).

(She’ll spare you the details of sophomore year’s drama, but Cindy Sanders is kind of a bitch).

“Give me a second!”

She leaves the book on her nightstand and runs to grab the phone before her mom can say anything embarrassing. 

“Hey!” she says, grabbing the phone from her mom. “It’s Maureen!”

“H—Hi, Maureen.”

Awkward voice. Slight stutter. “Hey, Sam!”

“How’s your summer going?” 

Maureen smiles. Sam’s the sweetest boy she’s ever met. “Really good, what about you?”

“I’m—I’m good. I was actually—I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie at the drive-in with me? I just remembered you said _ To Kill A Mockingbird _ was one of your favorite movies and it’s playing tonight, so…”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Her mother glares at her. _ Sorry_, she mouths. “Yeah, what time?”

“I was thinking like 6?” Sam says hesitantly. 

“Sure! Who’s driving?”

“I can pick you up,” Sam says, and Maureen raises an eyebrow. 

“You have a car?”

“Well, no, but my friend said I could borrow his.”

As far as Maureen knows, Sam only has two friends, and neither of them have cars, but the rest of _ A Wrinkle in Time _is calling her name, so she’s not gonna draw this out for too long. 

“God, thanks, Sam, you’re the best!”

Sam giggles. “Thanks!”

“I gotta go, I’ll see you at six!”

“Bye!”

Maureen puts the phone down. 

“Does my daughter have a _ date _ tonight?” Asks her mother as she walks into the kitchen. 

“I don’t wanna hear it!” Maureen yells as she runs back to her room. 

She’s got a hundred pages to go and she’ll be damned if Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace don’t land in the broccoli before six pm. 

-

It’s 5:55 and Maureen’s ready to go. She’s wearing her favorite gray sweater and the pair of blue jeans with the green paint stain on the knee that are too comfortable to throw out. 

A knock at the door and Maureen yells “Mom, I’m going out!”

“Tell your boyfriend I say hi!”

Maureen mimes gagging herself and opens the door. 

Sam’s on the front step, hands awkwardly tucked into his sweatshirt pockets. He gives a little smile and she sizes him up for the first time since June. 

“Are you taller than me?” She asks in disbelief, because the only person shorter than Sam is Neal. 

Sam laughs. “Y—Yeah, I’m taller than Lindsay now, too.”

“_Damn_,” she says, because he must have grown three inches in the last month and a half. He blushes before nodding at the car and leading Maureen towards it. He opens the passenger’s-side door for her and she smiles. 

“So, where are the other two tonight?” Maureen asks when they’re both in the car. 

Sam looks at her for a second before stuttering, “They, uh—they couldn’t make it.”

Maureen nods as _ Rosalinda’s Eyes _comes on the radio. “Oh, I love this song!”

She starts to sing and Sam smiles wide. 

-

They’re at the drive-in, and Sam parks the car in one of the only open spots left. 

“Hey, I meant to ask whose car this is,” Maureen says as _ Rosalinda’s Eyes _fades out, because she’s been avoiding putting her feet up on the dashboard for the entire drive, and if it’s Bill or Neal’s, she can do so with no guilt. 

“Oh, it’s—it’s Daniel’s.”

Maureen raises an eyebrow. 

“He’s my sister’s friend. He plays D&D with us sometimes.”

“Daniel _ Desario_?” Maureen asks, because the only person less likely to play D&D with Sam and his friends is Cindy freakin’ Sanders. 

Sam nods. “Yeah.” At the look on her face, he adds, “He’s actually pretty cool.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Maureen smiles sweetly, and that’s when he kisses her. 

She doesn’t know if she kisses back, all she can think is _ holy shit_, because as unlikely as it is for Daniel Desario to play Dungeons and Dragons with a bunch of sophomore geeks, it’s ten times as unlikely that Sam Weir would ever make the first move. 

Also, there’s a boy kissing her. And Maureen does not care for that shit at all. 

She pulls away, and without thinking, says “Holy shit, is this a date?”

Sam’s face is red and his eyes are frantic.

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—Daniel gave me advice about girls and he said I should take my chance and make the first move, but I—Shit, I’m so sorry, I just thought—”

“No, Sam, it’s okay,” says Maureen, her face undoubtedly just as red as Sam’s. “I didn’t mean to—you surprised me, I just—”

Sam looks like he’s trying not to cry, and Maureen takes _ her _chance. 

“I like girls.”

Everything’s too quiet. Maureen’s heart pounds in her ears.

“What?” Sam says. 

“I’m a lesbian.”

“Oh.” Sam says. “Shit.”

Maureen raises an eyebrow and Sam clarifies. “I guess I maybe shouldn’t have kissed you, then.”

Maureen laughs. “It’s fine.”

“I can… drive you home if you want.” Sam offers, still blushing furiously. 

“Hell no!” Maureen says, smiling. “I was offered one ticket to _ To Kill A Mockingbird _and that’s what I’m gonna get.”

Sam nods, and then asks, “Do you think Melissa Karpinski is cute?”

“Do I have _ eyes_?” Maureen asks, and Sam giggles. 

“Cool.”

Maureen smiles and glances at the screen, playing an advertisement for the Drive-In Snack Shack, and looks back to Sam. “Wanna get some food? I’m paying.”

Sam starts, “My dad says the gentleman has to pay—”

“This isn’t a date, Samuel, do you want the root beer float or not?”

He thinks about it for a second. “Yeah.”

Maureen smiles and opens the car door. “Race you there!”

“What? No fair! Maureen!”

She grins, taking in the sweet summer air and running as fast as she can as Sam yells “Wait for me!”

Maureen laughs and keeps running.

-

Seventeen dollars, two orders of fried chicken, and two root beer floats later, Sam and Maureen climb onto the roof of Daniel Desario’s car. 

“Daniel will_ murder _ me if he finds out I sat on top of his car,” he warns, still trying to get up, as she balances her chicken on her green-stained knee. 

“He doesn’t have to _ know_, dumbass. Besides, this is the best way to watch a movie.” She takes a sip from her root beer float. “Holy shit, I love root beer.”

“That’s great, Maureen, but can I get a hand here?” Sam asks, still struggling. 

Maureen rolls her eyes and holds out a hand, keeping her food on her knee with her other hand. 

“Thanks,” says Sam, and his root beer float tips over and spills onto the car’s windshield

They look at each other for a second. 

“Shit,” Sam says, very matter-of-factly, and Maureen bursts out laughing. 

-

With the help of Sam’s shirtsleeve, a “what the hell are you doing?” from Maureen, and probably around forty-seven napkins from the snack shack, Daniel’s car is as good as new, other than the fact that its windshield smells strongly of root beer. 

“This is all your fault,” Sam mutters as he follows Maureen up to the roof of the car once again. 

“You’re the one who _ kissed _ me, I think we’re even.”

Sam blushes at this, and sets the little radio they’ve rented to the right channel. The screen lights up and Maureen can’t help but smile. 

_ Maycomb was a tired, old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. _

_ Somehow it was hotter then. _

_ Men's stiff collars wilted by 9:00 in the morning. _

_ Ladies bathed before noon, after their 3:00 naps, _

_ and by nightfall were like soft tea cakes, with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum. _

_ The day was 24 hours long, but it seemed longer. _

_ There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go _

_ and nothing to buy; no money to buy it with. _

_ Although, Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. _

_ That summer I was six years old. _

Maureen mouths the words along with Scout. She can feel Sam watching her, and she turns to him. 

“You look so happy,” he says. 

She smiles wider than she ever has before when she whispers, “I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> All mistakes are my own, please let me know if you see any!
> 
> Kudos/Comments are greatly appreciated!


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